CBE failure another reason why De Lille must go
7 March 2022
The DA will write to the chairperson of the parliamentary portfolio committee of public works and infrastructure, Nolitha Ntobongwana, to call on the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia de Lille, her Deputy, Noxolo Kiviet, and the Board of the Council for the Built Environment (CBE) to appear before the committee as a matter of urgency to explain the leadership exodus and how this is to be addressed.
The DA has evidence that yesterday, two more CBE councillors resigned, while a third was rumoured to be on the brink of resignation. This leaves only nine out of the mandated 20 councillors on the board, and follows on the June 2021 resignation of the CEO and COO, and the interim appointments of people in their stead.
The CBE Act 43 of 2000 states once the Minister is alerted to resignations of councillors by the CBE, a replacement must be appointed within 60 days. Many of these appointments are still outstanding more than 24 months later.
In terms of rule 11 of the Act, a majority of councillors is necessary for all decisions to be binding. As it stands, the CBE can no longer be considered a legal entity and all decision taken now have to be called into question, including all appeal proceedings. In fact, many of the decisions that have been taken over the past year – including those that determined the annual performance plans of the CBE – need to be scrutinised, as these meetings were allegedly not attended by enough councillors to constitute a quorum.